This album features just one synthesizer – a Buchla 208C Easel Command, processed with various effects pedals. It enabled a minimalist approach, focusing purely on tone and atmosphere. Something about the raw sound of this amazing instrument led to thoughts of moons in our solar system: there’s something utterly otherworldly and yet oddly familiar about the sound of the Easel – it often sounds more organic than electronic and is simultaneously beautiful and mysterious, huge and delicate. Working immersively over a period of a few weeks, the place frequently arrived at, in the mind’s eye, was standing on the surface of one of the moons of Jupiter, or perhaps observing a satellite of Uranus transit across its host planet…a symphony of waxing and waning, colours and patterns across the darkness of space. This soon became a focal point for the record, reflected in the track titles & overall aesthetic, which was then taken to another level with Nick’s incredible artwork realisation. This album is a journey mapping strange and beautiful worlds, that whilst close to home, remain tantalisingly just out of reach, except for in photographs, illustrations and of course, our imagination. Our dreams.
Mark Burford
Field Lines Cartographer
August 2023